Neighbour doesn't want us to get chickens because of rats

[charliesweb]

Hello we were very excitedly planning to convert our playhouse on stilts into a chicken coop with a run underneath. We told our elderly neighbour and she said fine. The next day I got summoned to her house were she was with her daughter. She said she wasn't happy about us getting chickens and nor was her son and daughter. I didn't really know what to say so I reassured her I wouldn't do anything unless she was happy and that I would do more research. She is most concerned about noise and rats. She tends to get wound up by other people's opinions. She said she would be afraid to leave her back do open in the summer! I don want her to worry, but we were all looking forward to the idea. My neighbour on the other side we should go ahead a get them, but I really don't wan her to be upset and worried. Any advice?

[differentnameforthis]

I am new to keeping chickens (just building a coop & getting my first ones in a week or so) but I have heard that mint, lavender & rosemary in the coop/nesting boxes helps to mask smells & therefore prevents rats/mice. I don't know if it is true, but I have read about it in several places.

[evansthebread]

My ex-neighbour had 20 hens and 6 ducks. He called them free range, but they were all kept in a small pen. The stink in the summer was awful.

He denied causing a rat problem, and tried hanging his feeders from the roof of the pen (the ducks would try to fly out so he had wire over the top). Trouble is, he'd lock them in a shed at night then refuse to come out if I called him when I'd see rats in the garden (I put the dog out several times a night and he'd go frantic after a rat). He still wouldn't believe me when we'd trapped one and showed him (blamed our dog!).

Then he got cockerels. Oh God. The noise was awful. The pen was under our bedroom window and would start at 4am. If it stopped after a while it wouldn't have been so bad, but it would go on all day and as we both work shifts it made us really ill with lack of sleep.

Eventually another neighbour (I assume) reported him to the council and he got rid of the whole lot. I've never been so relieved. And we've not had a rat problem since.

Before him, we had a lovely neighbour a few doors away who also kept hens (and quails). The hens would roam in the field behind our houses and come into our garden (through a hole in the hedge that I didn't want to fix as I'd get hedgehogs as well as hens visiting) when I'd sit outside with a cuppa and a few biccies after a night shift - I used to love feeding them by hand and giving them a cuddle (they make great pets for kids). He didn't keep many, never had a cockerel and interacted so they were tame. Sadly he passed away and his birds were given away. I still miss having my afternoon visits.

I would love to keep a few hens and am all for people having them (especially if they re-home ex-battery hens), but so many people go into it willy nilly and don't consider the work (like any other pet, I suppose). They get them and then can't be bothered to look after them properly and that really winds my clock.

I yearn for a perfect world where people look after their animals and consider their neighbours. It's nice to come here and see people firstly asking for advice and secondly showing consideration to others. If only everyone was like some of the posters here. I'd love both you and your hens as neighbours.

[Cakehead]

We have an eglu and DH built a run which has rat-proof (and fox proof) mesh. Think the wire was called weld-mesh. The holes in the wire are too small to allow rats in to feed, and the eglu supposedly has rat-proof feeding bowls as they are sphere-shaped and rats can't get purchase on them.
Five years on, never encountered a rat. And we have a very efficient mouser-cat who brings us a regular supply of field mice from the fields around our house, so think we'd have known if they were nearby. However, neighbours over the road had terrible rat problems with their rabbits, until neighbours got together and complained. You've just got to be careful about storing the feed securely.
It IS possible to keep chickens rat-free. And the eggs are a great bribe. You'd soon win your neighbour round.

[pigsinmud]

We've had our chickens 6 months and we now have rats. We have an eglu cube and the chickens used to have half the garden to run around in. The rats arrived helping themselves to the chicken food. We now have a walk in run. The rat (I know there will be more than one, but only seen one at a time) still appears, but can't access the food. It runs around the run and looks a bit annoyed and goes away!

Having said that we had rats in the compost before and rats living under our decking. They don't freak me out. Our neighbour told us years ago (not long after we moved in) that she had a persistent problem with rats.

[Pixel]

We've had ours a year now and no sign that they've attracted rats. I'm sure there are plenty around as we back on to a bridleway but they are much more likely to be under the neighbours' decking than anywhere near our hens as there aren't really any hiding places for them there. Everyone round here has food out for the birds so they haven't got a leg to stand on anyway. I didn't bother mentioning to our neighbours with the decking as frankly we have to put up with their constant noise anyway from yapping dogs etc, but the neighbours the other side were sceptical and I wouldn't want to upset them as they are really nice. The first night we had the hens I lay there in a cold sweat thinking I'd made a terrible mistake and would be upsetting everybody. Actually they've been fine and neighbours say they quite enjoy hearing them chuntering away. They even put their veg peelings over the fence for us to find. And yes, the eggs definitely help! .

[Soupa]

Yeah cezzy the neighbours are picky, they brighten my dad in an odd way though. So grumpy and negative and moaning about everything from parking to hens to imagined slights. They make me feel all cheery and carefree:)

We are partitioning the garden so our ladies can stay free range but not be where we want to be, how they make so much poo I don't know!

[MissBeehivingUnderTheMistletoe]

I've keep about 100 chickens, unless you have cockerals then there won't be a noise problem.

I've had rats for the first time in years but that's because the farmer planted pheasant cover in front of the wood where I keep my chickens and they've been attracted initailly because of that. Don't leave food out, keep the feed in rat proof bins and keep the house off the ground and you should be fine. As others have said if she's feeding the birds then that will be more attractive to rats than chickens tbh - rats like to take larger bits of food (like bread) take it back to the nest - it's much more difficult to do that with pellets.

[TunipTheVegedude]

' Ironically she leaves bread out for the birds on her lawn!!!'

That is WAY more likely to attract rats than chickens who don't have food left around in their run.

[Cezzy]

Soupa, your neighbours sound very picky. Can't say we have ever noticed a smell but they do poo a lot, hence we had to put them in a run or we had to go and clear the garden every day before the DC could go and play. They helped at first but soon got bored. Also we were rapidly losing turf, although they did a great job clearing the veggie plot. We also have a very adventurous one that kept going into the neighbours gardens (thankfully they didn't mind). She would go over then nit work out how to get back, not the brightest of birds.

[MandragoraWurzelstock]

Noise only comes with a cockerel, yes chickens tend to announce it a bit when they lay, but that;s fairly innocuous and at most about 30 seconds once a day.

Rats don't come for chickens, they come for mess or compost. We had rats in our garden long before we had hens - next door has the European compost mountain, that;'s why.

I haven't seen a rat in ages. My parents get rats and none of their neighbours keeps anything resembling a chicken.

I think your neighbour;s daughter has been putting the willies up her mum. Free eggs will probably sort her out eventually...our neighbours love us because of this.

[charliesweb]

Thanks for all your comments. Our gardens do join and they would be on her side. Ironically she leaves bread out for the birds on her lawn!!! I'm going to chat to my brother who has kept chickens, ducks and bees for years. And try and come up with evidence that will put her mind at ease.

[Soupa]

Our neighbours hate the hens. Apparently they can't sit in their gardens, can't abide the stench and noise. They get together and moan and write notes.

The other neighbour likes them although they are near her side. Really the problem is that the other neighbours are old meanies so whilst happy to move the coop, prevent escapes etc I won't be pandering to them by getting rid of the two hens. It does cause conflict though.

They do poo an awful lot though, and we have a rat under the coop... they haven't noticed that yet...

[rainbowsprite1]

I have had my hens for 2.5 years and have never seen a rat. We did have a small problem with mice, in our garage where I had forgotten to put the bird & hen food into the metal bin & the bags got gnawed, our cats soon sorted that one out.

Noise would be my biggest concern. Some hens are noisier than others I have found. Our neighbours were not at all happy when we got hens, 2 years on they quite like them, and appreciate the steady supply of free eggs. We made a point of handing over 1/3 of the eggs we got for a long time. The neighbours now even throw their weeds from weeding the garden over the fence to the hens! :)

[Cezzy]

We built a large run for ours and hang up the food (mainly because they were getting muck in them from s ratting around when on the ground). We originally had rats but that is because a neighbour a couple of doors down puts food out for pigeons and lives next to a dyke so rats heaven. We dug wire down and sites the run on blocks and haven't seen rats since. We keep food in an outbuilding in a sealed bin. Noise wise we only have quiet clucking. They are great easy maintenance pets and always "chat" when we go out there.

[MrsTomHardy]

And I do live on a housing estate, lots of neighbouring gardens.....

[MrsTomHardy]

I've kept chickens for about 5 years now and I've never seen any rats but that isn't to say there isn't any around. Aren't rats around anyway tho....we have loads if cats/dogs/foxes here also.

I didn't tell anyone when we got ours, just went ahead, but I only had 3 at the time. It did increase to 6 over the years but now have 3 again. No-one has ever complained about them.

[MaryPoppinsBag]

We have had a rat problem recently and it coincided with the neighbours getting rid of their chickens and the coop.

We still have one living in the loft and it is driving me mad. We've tried poison and traps but it is still scuttling about.

[ChasingSquirrels]

I do appreciate that my lack of rats/foxes is much more good luck than anything else!

[ChasingSquirrels]

mine are free range, food in a dog-dish on the ground, not brought in at night, no wire/slabs etc dug under the run etc etc.

Rats could just walk into the area, as could foxes (which are definitely around - friend in next village about a mile away is always losing her birds), but I haven't had any problems with either.

I don't shut them in at night either.

[wannaBe]

it sounds as if your neighbour is pretty close. I wouldn't be happy if a close neighbour had chickens tbh. They do attract rats, and foxes.

[charliesweb]

My mum has an ongoing problem with rats going after her bird feeders. But as far as I know the neighbours aren't affected. Will it help to tell her if rats are attracted they will focus on the chicken food?

The house is on high stilts. We are planning on having their food in a hanging feeder. Digging wire down (to discourage foxes) and keep feed in a metal bin in the shed.

[Pancakeflipper]

Our neighbour has 3 cats who are great at catching them and bringing them into the house alive. They love hiding behind the cooker.

[charliesweb]

I know I wish I could go back and have that first conversation again. I'm rubbish at being put on the spot. She has my phone number because she's had falls in the past I wanted to have someone close to call in case of an emergency so when she rang I assumed it was something like that and rushed round.

My plan is to get her evidence that it will be alright and then go round and talk to her and reassure her. It's crazy because although we were keen we still hadn't completely decided ourselves. I think she probably assumes its all sorted now . I'm so rubbish at any kind of confrontation, even small ones.

I hope I can salvage this.